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Council of Saint Uther
Penned by Melysa Marwyn, the proposition originally called for the Congregation of the Silver Hand to be divorced from the allegedly corrupt Council of Bishops and reformed as The '''COUNCIL OF SAINT UTHER.' '''THE COUNCIL OF SAINT UTHER' After having learned of the new Archbishop's refusal to compromise, Melysa and her supporters chose to leave the Congregation of the Silver Hand and form the Council of Saint Uther. Preamble *That in the interest of maintaining the integrity of the Order of the Silver Hand and in union with the Alliance paladins once bound by oath to the Order of the Silver Hand, and/or presently bound by oath in service, or aspiring to paladinhood should hereafter come together as one to form the polity of the Council of Saint Uther. *That in order to maintain its integrity, this council does not recognize the authority of Council of Bishops or its elected Archbishop, and is governed by its own elected Officers. *That the Council of Saint Uther shall elect its own Grand Master and Officers. *That the Council of Saint Uther is vested rightly with full power and authority to make, alter and repeal all of the laws, rules and regulations for the administration, discipline and formation of the Council of Saint Uther; that Order being pledged to uphold the honour and code of the Order of the Silver Hand and the defense of the Grand Alliance. Mission of the Council of Saint Uther *To uphold the Code of the original Order of the Silver Hand as established by Alonsus Faol, and Uther the Lightbringer. *To walk in the grace of the Holy Light and spread its wisdom throughout Alliance lands. *To vanquish evil wherever it may be found, and protect the faithful citizens of the Grand Alliance. *To provide aspirants with the education, physical, and spiritual training necessary to make them worthy of the honor of being anointed paladin defenders of the Grand Alliance. *The provision of a forum for general petitions from all anointed paladins of the Grand Alliance. *The direction of united military action as it is relevant to the integrity and the stability of the Order of the Silver Hand and the Grand Alliance. Authority The council is a representative body and not a governing body. It does not possess the right to manage the internal affairs of those orders and chapters represented in its ranks beyond the remit required by the membership guidelines. The Council has the right to establish independently of the Council of Bishops, codes of conduct, to set training guidelines, to call tournaments, and--most importantly--to create the military regimen necessary to maintain its constitutent bodies in a state of readiness. For this purpose, it should encourage, arrange, organise, and prepare war games, military manoeuvres, and other such sundry events as will continually improve the universal Paladinhood. All members of the council agree, by their membership, to recognise in full the Paladins of the other members of the council. If a member body believes that another member body is in violation of the requirements of membership, the matter should be referred to the Grand Master at once. Polity Membership The Council shall accept, as speaking representatives, the Paladin who is the head of each chapter or order of Paladins that have been appointed by the order they represent. These members are equal in stature at the Council meetings, and are each possessed with a single, non-transferable vote, in all matters before the Council. Only members of the Congregation, the Grand Master and Council Officers may address the Council as 'members' or 'peers'. All others who wish to speak must be invited so to do in a motion, seconded, and voted upon by the Council. The titular style for voting, representative members is "The Honourable" as in, "The Honourable X," "The Honourable Representative for the X," and "His/Her/Your Honour." For a chapter or order to gain recognition by the Council of Saint Uther, the said chapter or order must demonstrate: *That its paladins are trained and squired in accordance with the mission statement of the Council; *That its paladins are wholly orthodox and knowledgeable believers of the teachings of the Holy Light; *That its paladins are virtuous; and that the order will not suffer fallen, corrupt, or otherwise gravely sullied paladins to remain within its ranks; *That its paladins are loyal to the Light, the Order of the Silver Hand, and the Grand Alliance, being not neutral in any regard; *And that its paladins are duly consecrated and anointed in the same manner as the Original Order of the Silver Hand, swearing no oaths that deviate from the original. Should the Grand Master determine that a body has lapsed in these observances, the Grand Master will revoke membership until the body is once again in accordance with the principles above. Should a body fail to attend two successive meetings, it will lose its voting rights (effective at that second meeting) until it is again in attendance, and its vote shall not be considered in matters before council, nor shall the said vote constitute part of those counted as amongst the membership. Should a body fail to attend three sucessive meetings, it will lose its membership entirely, and will need to reapply for membership through the Grand Master or the Council Chancellor. Council Meetings Meetings shall take place at Tyr's Hand, in Lordaeron, on the first and third Saturday of each month at seven bells in the evening, and shall be planned so as to last approximately one hour. To this end, discussion on matters may be closed after a reasonable time, even if not every speaker has been addressed, for to facilitate the completion of Congregational business. If members feel a reasonable time has not been allowed by the Grand Master, they may appeal to the Grand Master. This appeal is final. If the first or third Saturday of the month falls upon a day of observance, the Council may elect to defer the meeting until the following Saturday of the month. The Offices of the Council of Saint Uther Grand Master The Grand Master is appointed to serve as an exemplary model for all paladins in the Council of Saint Uther. The Grand Master is elected by the Council, and is endowed with the supreme, knightly authority to teach, instruct, educate and anoint all paladins in the Order of the Silver Hand. The titular style for the Grand Master is "The Most Honourable X, His/Her/Your Honour". Speaker The Speaker is the presiding representative of the Council, and is appointed by the Grand Master to serve for a term of three months. The Speaker is responsible for: *Maintaining order during meetings. *Calling meetings to order and adjourning meetings. *Giving orders to the Sergeant-at-Arms to provide for security and order, including the option to remove, perforce, any observer or member deemed disruptive to the meeting of the Council. *Recognition of those who wish to speak. *Serving as the representative for the paladins serving on the body when necessary. *Representing the opinions of the members of the body dispassionately and without personal bias, insofar as it is possible. *In special cases, proposing worthy aspirants to the Grand Master for consecration as Paladins. The titular style for the Speaker is "The Right Honourable Speaker" as in, "The Right Honourable X," "The Honourable Speaker," and "His/Her/Your Honour." Informally, "Mr./Mme. Speaker" may be used. Secretary The Speaker will be assisted by a secretary, appointed by the Council to serve the Speaker after his or her election, who is responsible for sundry matters of business, including: *The responsibility of maintaining the Council Docket. *The responisibilty of recording the minutes of each Council meeting. *The authority to call Order meetings to Order when the Speaker is unable so to do, thus acting as temporary chairperson. The titular style for the Speaker is "The Honourable Secretary" as in, "The Right Honourable X," "The Honourable Secretary," and "His/Her/Your Honour." Informally, "Mr./Mme. Secretary" may be used. Chancellor The Chancellor is one of the two assistants chosen by the Speaker from amongst the membership of the Council. The Chancellor is responsible for: *Establishing and maintaining a seminary of paladins under the direction of the Grand Master that shall facilitate the continued spiritual and physical training of aspirants. *Upholding and epitomising the Code of the original Order of the Silver Hand above all others. The titular style for the Chancellor is "The Honourable Chancellor" as in, "The Right Honourable X," "The Honourable Chancellor," and "His/Her/Your Honour." Informally, "Mr./Mme. Chancellor" may be used. Sergeant At Arms The Sergeant At Arms is one of the two assistants chosen by the Speaker from amongst the membership of the Council. The Sergeant At Arms is responsible for: *Maintaining order during council meetings. *Providing security for meetings, including the appointment of no more than four Order Guards. *Ejecting unruly council members. Rules of Order Business Business should be submitted to the Secretary, in writing, at least forty-eight hours in advance of the meeting. The docket cannot be changed in the twenty-four hours before the meeting. Matters on the docket are raised in the order submitted. After all old business is completed, if time remains, new business may be addressed. New business is a discussion brought before the Council either by the motion of a peer, or by the presentation of a communication to the assembly. It is not usual to make motions to receive reports of committees or communications to the assembly. There are many other cases in the ordinary routine of business where the formality of a motion is dispensed with, but should any peer object, a regular motion becomes necessary. No motion contemplating action may be brought as New Business without the special, explicit approval of the Grand Master, given on a case-by-case basis. New business is limited exclusively to discussion of issues. What Precedes Debate Before any subject is open to debate it is necessary, first, that a motion be made by a peer who has obtained the floor; second, that it be seconded (with certain exceptions); and third, that it be stated by the Speaker. The fact that a motion has been made and seconded does not put it before the assembly, as the Speaker alone can do that. He or she must either rule it out of Order, or state the question on it so that the assembly may know what is before it for consideration and action, that is, what is the immediately pending question. If several questions are pending, as a resolution and an amendment and a motion to postpone, the last one stated by the Speaker is the immediately pending question. Motions may contain one or many propositions; however, only a single vote is taken on any individual motion. If the motion fails, all parts of the motion fail. If the motion passes, all parts of the motion pass. Abstentions count as votes to enforce the state of the council prior to the motion--typically, this is 'Nay'. Obtaining the Floor Before a peer makes a motion or addresses the assembly in debate, it is necessary that he or she should obtain the floor -- that is, he or she must raise his hand to signal this intent after the floor has been yielded, and address the presiding officer by his or her official title. If the assembly is large so that the peer's name may be unknown to the Speaker, the peer should give his or her name as soon as he or she catches the eye of the Speaker after addressing him or her. It is the responsibility of the Secretary to assist the Speaker in keeping track of who is next to speak, in order. If the peer is entitled to the floor, as shown hereafter, the Speaker "recognises" him or her, or assigns him or her the floor, by announcing his or her name. If a peer speaks before the floor has been yielded, he or she cannot obtain the floor. It is out of Order to speak when another has the floor, and remarks, motions, or actions by any peer speaking out of order shall not be recognized by the assembly. Out of order conduct is grounds for removal from meetings of the council. Motions and Resolutions A motion is a proposal that the assembly take certain action, or that it express itself as holding certain views. It is made by a peer's obtaining the floor as already described and saying, "I move that" (which is equivalent to saying, "I propose that"), and then stating the action he or she proposes to have taken. Thus a peer "moves" (proposes) that a resolution be adopted, or amended, or referred to a committee, or that a vote of thanks be extended, etc.; or "That it is the sense of this meeting (or assembly) that ______ action be taken," etc. Seconding Motions For a motion to be considered by the Council, it must be seconded. This is to prevent time being consumed in considering a question that only one person favors. Typically, a second is offered on most significant issues. Should a motion proceed without a second, any one may make a point of order that the motion has not been seconded, and then the Speaker is obliged to proceed formally and call for a second. A motion is seconded by a peer's saying "I second the motion," "Seocnded," or "I second it," which he or she does without obtaining the floor. In large assemblies, and especially where non-members are scattered throughout the assembly, members raise their hands, and without waiting for recognition, say, "I second the motion." Debate After a question has been stated by the Speaker, it is before the assembly for consideration and action. All resolutions, reports of committees, communications to the assembly, and all amendments proposed to them, and all other motions except the Undebatable Motions may be debated before final action is taken on them, unless by a majority vote the assembly decides to dispose of them without debate. In the debate each peer has the right to speak twice on the same question on the same day (except on an appeal), but cannot make a second speech on the same question as long as any peer who has not spoken on that question desires the floor. No peer may speak longer than ten minutes at a time without permission of the assembly. Debate must be limited to the merits of the immediately pending question -- that is, the last question stated by the Speaker that is still pending; except that in a few cases the main question is also open to debate. Speakers must address their remarks to the Speaker, and be courteous in their language and deportment. Speakers should not address their fellows by name in the debates, but rather refer to them as "The Honourable Representative for X" where X is the name of the Order, Chapter, or Body. Secondary Motions To assist in the proper disposal of the question, various subsidiary motions are used, such as to amend, to commit, etc., and for the time being the subsidiary motion replaces the resolution, or motion, and becomes the immediately pending question. While these are pending, a question incidental to the business may arise, as a question of Order, and this incidental question interrupts the business and, until disposed of, becomes the immediately pending question. And all of these may be superseded by certain motions, called privileged motions, as to adjourn, of such supreme importance as to justify their interrupting all other questions. All of these motions that may be made while the original motion is pending are sometimes referred to as secondary motions. Putting the Question and Announcing the Vote First, a quorum must be present before any vote can be called. Quorum for the Council is half of the body (rounded up, in case of fractions) plus one. So, if the body consists of 15 members, quorum is 9 (half of 15 is 7.5--rounded up to 8, plus 1). The Speaker may order the Sergeant-at-Arms to compel voting members to be present. Voting members are required to be present as part of their duties and, if absent without cause approved by the Speaker or Grand Master, may be brought into the Council by force. Presence, even under duress, shall constitute portion of quorum. When the debate is closed, the Speaker asks again, "Are there remaining matters on this question prior to a vote?" If no one rises, he proceeds to take the vote on the question, first calling for the affirmative (Aye) and then for the negative vote (Nay). In putting the question the Speaker should make perfectly clear what the question is that the assembly is to decide. If the question is on the adoption of a resolution, unless it has been read very recently, it should be read again, the question being put in a way similar to this: "The question is on the adoption of the resolution the Speaker reads; those in favor of the resolution say aye; those opposed say no. The ayes have it, and the resolution is adopted;" or, "The noes have it, and the resolution is lost." The vote should always be announced, as it is a necessary part of putting the question. The assembly is assumed not to know the result of the vote until announced by the Speaker, and the vote does not go into effect until announced and confirmed by the Speaker. As soon as the result of the vote is announced the Speaker should state the next business in Order. All matters of council business require a majority vote of the entire body (not just those present) in order to pass. Any absent representatives are understood to have abstained (their vote maintains the Council in its state prior to the vote--typically 'nay'). Adjournment When the Council has reached the designated time for adjournment, the Speaker should announce that time for the meeting has elapsed. A motion may then be made to add thirty minutes of extra time. Such a motion must be seconded and voted upon; should it fail, the meeting is adjourned. Motions for extra time may be made thrice, after which no more motions for extra time may be tabled, and the meeting is adjourned. If a meeting is adjourned before all of the business on the docket has been addressed, the remaining business is shifted onto the docket for the following meeting. After the meeting is adjourned, the meeting may not be reconvened until the following designated meeting day (in the next month). No business may be enacted after adjournment, nor may the council hear discussion or maintain members present. 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